The Reid Effect
by Someone aka Me
Summary: Reid shows Morgan what he loves about Halloween. Not Slash. Complete


To those who celebrate, Happy Halloween! And to those of you who celebrate it, Sé que es temprano, (y mi español es mal) pero ¡feliz día de los muertos!

And yes, I do realize those two holidays do not have much to do with each other aside from the dates.

Now entered in the-vampire-act 's Holiday Challenge! Voting starts December 30th on her profile.

As Reid joined him in the elevator on their way out of the building Morgan turned to face him and asked,

"Reid? Why do you love Halloween so much?" Reid cocked his head in thought before answering honestly,

"It's the one day in every 365 1/4 that you can be whoever or whatever you desire to." He paused, and then added, "It is the day when we dispose of all of society's conventional rules and accept candy from strangers, and slink around after dusk, and allow monsters to roam among us without apprehension. It humanizes the monsters. For just this one day, they aren't as frightening, and we can confront the things that haunt us, things that we typically cower from."

Reid bit his bottom lip, frowning.

"Why do you hate Halloween so much?"

Morgan raised his eyebrows before stating, "It's the one day of the year that we dredge the monsters up from the dark corners of our minds where they belong. We drag them out of the tightly locked boxes buried deep and invite them to walk among us with impunity."

Reid's frown deepened. "Come with me tonight, Morgan. I agreed to pass out candy at Hotch's while he and Jack go out because his suburb actually gets trick-or-treaters. Come with me. I'll show you what I love about Halloween."

Morgan thought about this; Reid could tell where those thoughts were leading.

"You can find yourself a "Halloween Honey" some other night, Morgan," he sighed, exasperated.

"Technically…" Morgan began.

"I know, I know," Reid interrupted as Morgan trailed off. Morgan laughed.

"Please?" Reid asked, returning to the subject at hand.

Sighing, Morgan rand a hand over his head.

"Fine. But you owe me, pretty boy, and I am _so_ not wearing a costume."

"Just a mask?" Reid pleaded. "Come on, Morgan, it's three hours, max."

Glaring, Morgan agreed grudgingly. Reid barely restrained himself from yelling with glee.

Morgan knocked hesitantly on Hotch's door, still unsure of what he had agreed to. He was pretty sure it was Reid who answered it, though he was decked out in full Frankenstein regalia, so it wasn't certain until the mask came off and Reid greeted him exuberantly.

Hotch came out of the kitchen carrying Jack, who was wearing a suit and tie. Morgan chuckled, understanding immediately. Hotch himself was simply wearing casual clothes.

"How come you can get away with no costume?" Morgan asked darkly. Hotch smirked slightly and said,

"I'm the boss."

"Not. Fair," Morgan muttered.

"Thanks again for doing this, Reid." Hotch spoke the words with a truly grateful tone infused throughout. "The houses that don't give out candy always end up TP'ed within the week."

"Honestly?" Morgan asked in astonishment. "Vicious."

Hotch grimaced. "That's a mistake you only make once. Toilet paper is not easy to get out of trees."

"No problem, Hotch. I never get any trick-or-treaters at my apartment." Reid was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Right, well, try not to scare anyone away," Hotch said dryly.

"Yessir."

"How much candy have you had, kid?" Morgan asked in fear. Reid didn't bother to answer, which frightened him more.

"I'll see you two later." Hotch held in his laughter at Morgan's face. Morgan mouthed,

"_Take me with you!"_ Hotch simply shook his head.

"Come on, buddy," he said to Jack.

"Bye bye," Jack told Reid and Morgan, who said goodbye as the pair walked out the door.

Reid passed Morgan a mask that appeared to be the Loch Ness Monster. Grudgingly, Morgan donned it as the doorbell rang.

"Watch their faces," Reid informed him before opening the door, grinning widely.

"Hey! What've we got here? We have… a very pretty princess," he smiled at the small girl shrouded in pink as he dropped a candy into her bag. "Superman! Let me guess… the Incredible Hulk?" At the boy's nod, Reid grinned. "Awesome. And last, but certainly not least, a very ferocious looking black cat." The little girl blushed furiously.

"You think so?" she asked shyly.

"I do."

"Thanks, Mister," she replied quietly.

"Yeah, thanks!" the other three chorused. As they began to run back to their parents, the black cat turned back around.

"You make a good Frankenstein, Mister," she declared before running after her friends. Reid smiled softly before closing the door.

"_That's_ why I love Halloween," he told Morgan.

"What happened to the Reid effect?" Morgan asked in astonishment.

Reid smiled slightly and shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it has something to do with the fact that I don't have to be _me_," he said, gesturing to the costume.

"All right."

"What?"

"You've convinced me."

"You agree that Halloween rocks?"

Morgan grinned at Reid's unexpected word choice.

"Yeah, kid. It rocks."

"It was the looks on their faces, wasn't it?" Reid asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, it was." And it was. The excitement, the joy only a child could truly experience.

"It's exhilarating," Reid said softly. "I miss that, the childish joy" he stated regretfully. "But with Halloween, I feel like I get a fraction of that back."

FINAL VOTING HAS STARTED FOR CM FANFIC AWARDS!

Calling all CM readers and authors! Join us for our first Profiler's Choice CM Awards on fanfiction . net! Help us choose the best of the best of the CM stories on , and let your voice be heard. Anyone with a account is eligible to vote. Please check out the final voting ballot and rules at Chit Chat on Author's Forum. All rules and information are on the forum.


End file.
